How To Become Better With Mixer In 10 Minutes

The best stand mixer 2017: ready, steady, mix!

Inexplicable, explosion in the prevalence of baking, many individuals are buying them and
ACTUALLY USING THEM, rather than having them serve their traditional purpose: looking
Nice and impressing visitors to your kitchen, who went away thinking you were baking all the
Time, even though you actually were not.
Our favourite stand mixer right now is the Sage The Scrape Mixer Pro. It Might Not Be the
Most beautiful, but it's fantastic as well as being silent.
How to Purchase the best stand mixer for you
These industrial-strength ingredient wranglers are expensive beasts, but a good one should last
Many decades, and they do make the creation of breads and cakes considerably more painless, as
Well as being able to whip up cream, meringues and the like with their whisk attachments.
Oh, and if you want to get into advanced studies, the Kenwoods and Kitchenaids of this world
also take attachments that do everything from mincing meat to spiralising veg to making pasta.

Stand mixers are serious bits of kit, and can be a significant investment.
And his good lady wife have spent the last six months trying the following eight stand mixers, in
The first four options are all extremely strong and none of
Here's our verdict, then...

1.
Has the Heston Blumenthal stamp of approval


It's a stonker.
Like most quality stand mixers -- and indeed all commercial models -- its 1,000-watt variablespeed
Motor employs a 'planetry mixing action' to ensure all ingredients are well and truly merged.
However, this model goes a step further by dint of a windscreen beater attachment that scrapes
Any stray ingredients from the face of the bowl... so you don't have to.
works up to three times faster than ordinary beaters so it traps in more air, making lighter fluffier
cakes.' We don't know about that, but results were undeniably impressive.
For those who are never really sure what mixing speed to select for any given task, the Sage also
features an illuminated gauge on the side and clearly legible settings for whipping and aerating,

Things or you just need a break, set the countdown timer and the process will stop when the clock
hits zero.
The Scraper Mixer Pro comes with the usual choice of accessories including a 4.7-litre stainless
Steel bowl, a splash guard with a massive portal for adding ingredients, a wire whisk and the
obligatory dough hook. It's only
Offered in grey, but it's the most masculine looking and far and away the most technologically
equipped.
Decently quiet too, it is a really smart option.
2.
The Mary Berry of stand mixers
The brand of mixer that sets the standard KitchenAid's stand mixers are the mainstay of many a
TV cookery show -- including the Great British Bake Off.

since then.
and a similar lever on the back to lift up the heavy-duty arm. Aside from a sloot for adding pastacum-


Steel bowl, a balloon whisk, dough hook and flat beater for heavier combinations. It couldn't be simpler to
use. Simply throw in the ingredients, lower the arm and slide the rate controller a few notches
to the right. The motor fires up and much mixing is done.
A clear, removable plastic lid protects against splash back and features a large portal for the
addition of extra ingredients during the mixing process. Few modern mixers match this


Reliability, durability, efficiency and, above all, ease of use. Whether you prefer it or the Sage
Largely comes down to whether you want a modern or traditional appearance.
3.
Reminiscent of a Boeing 737 engine
The SMF01 is striking showpiece of cod 1950s splendour. Visitors will probably ignore your
Greetings and head straight towards the counter top for a fast stroke of its smooth, glossy diecast
aluminium head - reminiscent of a Boeing 737 engine - and beautifully machined base.
Then they'll ask you to bake a cake.
The Smeg has a 10-speed, soft-start 800-watt motor - 500 more watts than the KitchenAid,
Although we actually question the usefulness of that - which makes light work of anything you
throw into its equally gorgeous 4.8-litre polished steel bowl. 1 area where it arguably
surpasses the Kitchenaid is that adding and removing tools is easier.
Given that the Smeg is now a tad chaper than the KitchenAid, it's a genuine toss up between the
two. In many respects the Smeg seems the better buy as it's equally well built and it comes in a
Similar assortment of striking colours. However, one can't discount the renowned reliability of the
KitchenAid motor and other moving parts.
We also don't like the look of this one as much, and feel it's also less likely to fit into most
kitchens. That's just us, though. And, of course, if you've already filled your kitchenette with
other bits from Smeg's art deco-influenced design roster, dive right in. It's a cracking cake
companion.
4. Kenwood kMix
Dial difficult to read
Keep in Mind that kerfuffle (a few years ago now) in the land of the Great British Bake Off, when
the Twittersphere lit up with a bombardment of angry tweets from viewers who had seen
something they did not like. No, not Paul Hollywood's shiny hairdo but the sight of a new stand
mixer in place of the loyal KitchenAid model spied in so many previous series.
Well this was the culprit that's had the KitchenAid cognoscenti up in arms. The Kenwood kMix
Has many modern design flourishes, including a varispeed 500 watt motor, a massive 5-litre mixing
Bowl and a large control knob that includes a reverse gear no less. But is it any better than the
KitchenAid?
The kMix stands taller than the KitchenAid and is only slightly less sturdy. This particular
Variant includes a choice of either a glass or stainless steel bowl. We'd opt for the stainless
Steel version that's a lot lighter in the hand, prettier to look at and it won't smash into a
million shards if dropped.
Where the KitchenAid's clear plastic lid can be added and removed with the mixing arm down,
This one's cover is clipped into the mixer head and fits flush with the bowl once the arm is
lowered. It's a neat concept in theory but in practice it means having to add extra ingredients
mid-mix through a small portal with an annoying flap. The big control knob can be considered a
Wonderfully tactile thing but its dial is far too hard to read in low light.
On the plus side, the kMix's 500-watt motor is fairly quiet and we like the way it slowly
accelerates instead of starting off at full pelt. The unit also comes with the full gamut of
Accessories: a enormous balloon whisk for creams and cakes, a K-beater for dry ingredients, a dough
hook and a creaming beater that scrapes the side of the bowl like a spatula. The kMix looks
grand in any modern kitchen and does the job well. It's cheaper than the KitchenAid and
similarly well built, but the KitchenAid stills wins for effortless operation and simplicity.
5. Tefal Kitchen Machine
Great name, great mixing (with added blending)
You get a bit more for the money with this mixer. A 1.5-litre blender attachment for smoothie
making and a shredder-cum-slicer for knocking up a quick salad.
For a mid-priced machine, the planetary-action equipped Tefal performs exceedingly well. It
Comes with a hefty 900-watt motor, a 4.6-litre stainless steel mixing bowl, six speed settings and
The typical trio of mixing tools.
True, some ingredients tended to stick to the side of the bowl during our sponge test but that's the
case with most mixers bar those fitted with spatula-based beaters.
The addition of a blender attachment can be considered a major bonus, especially for those who
haven't already got one. It's easy to fit -- simply pull off the rotor housing on top and attach -- and
works surprisingly well. The veggie slicer, though, is a bit of a faff to fit and probably the one
item in this package that will rapidly be consigned to the back of the cupboard.
The Kitchen Machine -- clearly the boardroom bods at Tefal gave up finding a sexy name for it --
isn't the most attractive machine on the worktop but it does the job well enough for its price.
6. AEG UltraMix KM4000
Would get Jeremy Clarkson shouting 'POWER'
This monumental 1,000-watter has the most powerful motor in the roundup, and could feasibly
mix concrete. However, you may wish to wear ear muffs when firing it up because it makes a bit
of a racket.
That aside, the ultraMix has two main USPs: it comes with a pair stainless steel bowls (one large,
One small) and an LED that bathes the contents of the bowl in a cool blue hue. No question, the
AEG is an extremely attractive hunk and being of Teutonic/Swedish origin, you can be sure it's
superbly built too.
Design wise it looks somewhere between the KitchenAid's unabashed retroness and the post
Modern clout of the Kenwood kMix. The AEG comes with the usual range of accessories (spiral
dough hook, whisk and flat beater) and a large, well-lit, 10-speed knob on the side. It handled a
banana cake mix with aplomb, its whisky thing making light, airy work of the ingredients. In the
pantheon of smart stand mixers, the AEG does the deed well but the jury's out on the noise it
Makes in the procedure.
7. Morphy Richards Folding Stand Mixer
Folds up, perfect for smaller kitchens
Very smart folding design
Good for small kitchens
Plastic
Small
Here is a neat angle -- a folding mixer for anyone with worktop space restraints.
The MR is Great for the casual cook who bakes once in a while and isn't remotely interested in
having a status symbol on the kitchen worktop. Build quality and efficiency can't compete with
the prestigious players -- this one's all plastic and the twin whisk attachment is titchy by
Comparison -- but it is going to muster up a huddle of decent cupcakes and the odd loaf.
The folding mechanism, however, is a stroke of genius. After a clean up, both the arm and the
vertical column fold down into a neat package for storing in the nearest cupboard. But you will
need to find somewhere to stash the bowl. And speaking of bowls, this one actually spins while
the whisk (or dough hook) does its stuff. We're pretty sure that's not a good sign, in terms of
potential longevity or efficient mixing. The kids will surely enjoy it, though.
8. Breville Pick & Mix Stand and Hand Mixer
Very Affordable
Two motorsNot very powerful
Plastic
The trend for '50s style retro-designed mixers continues with this budget two-in-one model from
the house of Breville. The 380 watt Pick & Mix has two motors which independently drive both
The beater and the 3.2-litre stainless steel bowl for a thoroughly decent mix of tougher ingredients
like pizza, bread and cake dough.
The Pick & Mix offers ten beater speeds -- a very good thing -- and two for the bowl itself.
Unusually for a stand mixer, this one also offers the wherewithal to remove the top half and use
it by hand; great for off-the-cuff cream whipping and the beating of much sauce.
Sure there's a lot of plastic used in its construction, and we wouldn't have this in our home, but it
behaves well enough, comes in three slightly insipid pastel colours (vanilla cream, strawberry
Cream and pistachio green) and, most importantly, is VERY keenly priced.